Gov. Brown freezes all non-essential travel

by Julie Small

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Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday banned non-essential travel for state workers. The governor says the restriction will save California millions of dollars.

Any state employee who plans to take a trip on taxpayer dollars will have to prove that the travel is “mission critical.” The heads of departments and agencies must sign off on all travel inside California and the governor’s office will decide whether to okay out-of-state travel.

In the face of a $26 billion deficit, an employee travel ban may not save all that much money. But Gil Duran, the governor’s press secretary, says that savings here and there eventually add up.

“This is potentially tens of millions of dollars,” Duran says. “It may not seem a lot to reporters who cover the capital, but for the average tax payer who thinks of someone on a trip they don’t need to take getting air fare, hotel room and food, to do something they don’t need to do, that’s a pretty big deal.”

Duran says the governor will continue to question how the state conducts business in an effort to make it more transparent and more accountable to the people of California.

The governor’s issued five executive orders to tighten state workforce spending since taking office.